Of Moons and Flowers
by thespeedfxrce
Summary: "At first, I thought I had killed it, none of the flowers bloomed. I moved it from indirect sunlight on my mantle to outside on my terrace. I experimented with amounts of water and appropriate temperatures. Then I stumble home from a mission late one night to find that my flower is not only beautiful, but that it only blooms at night. Funny that."


This story was written for the Quarter Finals of the Seventh Season of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I'm writing as the Seeker for the Tutshill Tornados.

My task this round is as follows:

SEEKER: Title: _Of Moons and Flowers_

This story is an AU

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the world J.K. Rowling has created. It's all hers, from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts to all the people living there.

Thanks to my team for betaing!

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Title: _Of Moons and Flowers  
_Word Count: 996

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"I know it was you," she says.

He nearly made it out of the Order meeting without having to speak to her. The other members had already shuffled out of the Headmaster's office. Even Dumbledore himself realized the woman had been trying to corner him for weeks and made himself scarce, claiming the need to head to the kitchens for more lemon drops. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nymphadora." He doesn't look at her, but instead, the small tin can of lemon drops on the Headmaster's desk.

"Don't be coy with me and _don't_ call me that, Lupin. It took me a couple of muggle florists to find out that it's Tuberose. At first, I thought I had killed it, none of the flowers bloomed. I moved it from indirect sunlight on my mantle to outside on my terrace. I experimented with amounts of water and appropriate temperatures. Then I stumble home from a mission late one night to find that my flower is not only beautiful, but that it only blooms at night. Funny that."

He doesn't say anything. He knows his inability to look her in the eyes and its accompanying silence is, for all intents and purposes, an admission of guilt. She seems to think so as well.

"You will cut off all communication with me without so much as an explanation other than it being '_for my own protection_' and with the same breath, you have the audacity to send me flowers like some heartbroken sod?"

He doesn't need to look at her to know what her expression is. She's always been so emotional; almost proud to display her emotions on her sleeves.

"You didn't like them?" He looks at her, unable to resist.

She is surprised he has the courage to do so. As is he. He hasn't really looked her in the eyes since their last night together.

"I - what?"

"Did you not like them?"

Her cheeks are a rosy pink. Laughter dances in her eyes, even if it doesn't reach the hard lines of her stern expression. "I would hardly say I'm the type of girl one would see fit to give flowers to."

"I thought you'd think it rather clever." The corner of his lip quirks.

"A flower that hides itself away from the bright beckoning of the sun and blooms under the soft light of the moon. Poetic. But you gave yourself away with that."

"It took you this long to figure it out, didn't it?"

Their moment of blissful flirtation is left to hang in the air.

He makes his way to the door, forced to pass by her in his attempt to escape. He stands closer to her than he has in weeks. He forces himself to take a wide arc around her, unable to trust himself not to reach out and brush her skin. "I must be going."

"That's it?" She fumes, her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing.

His cheeks are flushed as red as her ever alternating hair. It's usually pink; however, he is certain the anger she feels towards him outweighs her usual bubbly personality so clearly displayed by her constant shifting hair. "I could kill you."

Her hand gestures to her wand, tucked safely in her cloak. "And I could kill you. What difference does it make?"

He whirls to face her so fast that she flinches, the fury dripping red into his vision doesn't allow him to feel the shame of having scared her. Not when she speaks so callously of her own life. "_The difference_ is that you would do it to protect yourself from me. I would do it because I can't get past the smell of your blood pumping through your veins long enough to recognize who you are." He is nose to nose with her, her breath fanning onto his face in a way that is intoxicating and infuriating. "The difference is that if you have to kill me, it will be because I tried to kill you."

"You haven't killed anyone." She raises her chin defiantly, challenging him.

His eyes are cold and hard. He leans down slightly. "How do you know?"

She waves her hand in dismissal. "Because I know you. You're not nearly as big and bad as you think you are."

"That ideology—that joking dismissal of how dangerous I really am is why I have to do this."

Her smirk is gone. "You know bloody well that you're being ridiculous." Her laugh is hard and humorlessly. Her eyes soften when they meet his and she raises a hand to cup his scarred cheek with a softness no one would expect from a woman as fiery as her. A softness he knows is reserved for him. He allows her to touch him if only for the brief moment of calm it brings to him. He is weak, he thinks as he leans into her hand, counting down the seconds until he'll have to leave the warmth it brings.

"You are strong, a brilliant wizard, you were a good professor before that half-wit got you fired, and you are an important member of the Order. Start acting like it." She speaks with a conviction that leaves no room for argument.

In a moment of weakness, or possibly insufferable strength, he reaches out to brush his fingers along her cheek. "I wish you could see what I see."

"I wish you could see what _I_ see."

He smiles, letting his hand drop and pulling away from hers. The cold that spreads from the loss of her touch burns his cheek. "It seems we're at an impasse then."

"Are we?"

His heart is heavy in his chest as he nods. "We are."

She bites her lip and furrows her brow. This time it is her turning from him and reaching for the door. Glancing back only once, she says, "this is what you want?"

_No_.

"This is what I need."


End file.
